Although most have been generally supportive of the act, many have expressed their dismay at the decision to launch it on St David's Day. The move has been described as a 'hi-jack' of the national holiday.

Read More

Commenting on the WalesOnline website, one user described the campaign as "A total insult to the people of Wales by a tiny little charity, run by a few people desperately trying to raise their profile at minimum expense."

Lobster on the flag at Holyhead Port (Image: Stephen Linton)

Another, considered the move as disrespectful, saying: "Why are our national emblems and our patron saint's day always being hijacked and appropriated for cancer awareness? Can we not have just one day of the year where we actually celebrate our culture, our history, without having it watered down by colonialists who do not respect us?

"There are 365(/6) days in the year, a huge number of them taken over for raising 'awareness' of various cancers, without appropriating a nation's culture and custom to do it.

"Do people do this with St. Patrick's day, co-opt it to raise 'awareness' over alcohol abuse? If they did, how would people react to that?"

Welsh Rugby pundit Jonathan Davies OBE also tweeted on the issue.

Adding later: "This is a campaign I support. Anything to raise awareness to save Welsh lives against skin cancer."

There were many more supportive of the charity's message, but feel that the stunt should have been launched on an alternative date.

"There are plenty of days and gimmicks to raise awareness for this. They didn't need to do it on St. David's day, and they certainly didn't need to make a mockery of our flag."

Despite the backlash, the campaign's hashtag #DontBeALobster has generated a lot of support, including a tweet from Welsh actor Michael Sheen.

One Twitter user described Don't Be a Lobster as "a fantastic and genius campaign'.

In response to the complaints, a spokesperson from Skin Care Cymru said: “The rise of skin cancer in Wales is a really serious issue. We wanted to create an impact with our campaign as saving people from skin cancer is such an important cause, especially given the rise in cases over the past decade.

"We are incredibly proud of our heritage as a Welsh charity, helping people all over the country to manage their illnesses. We also believe that as a nation, we have a good sense of humour and the ability not to take ourselves too seriously.

"The intention of changing the flag to a red lobster, which is synonymous with sunburn, was to encourage people to look twice and have a conversation so that we could raise awareness of the campaign.

"We worked very closely with all 35 organisations who enthusiastically agreed to take part and we are really grateful for their support”.

In North Wales, the flags have been seen at Aberystwyth University, The National Coastwatch Institution, Amlwch and Holyhead Port. There is also one at the Llanfairpwll Visitors Centre.

Reports on social media also mistakenly claimed that a flag had been spotted at Caernarfon Castle but this was not the case.

Wales has seen a sharp rise in skin cancer over the past decade - by 86% for men and 44% for women. It’s the sixth most common type of cancer in the country.

So why a lobster?

The lobster flags have met mixed reactions (Image: Anthony Ward)

Paul Thomas, chair of Skin Care Cymru, said: “The red dragon in the Welsh flag is probably the most iconic symbol of Wales. Similarly a lobster is one of the most well-known associations with sunburn.